{"id":11488,"date":"2026-10-17T12:26:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T16:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=11488"},"modified":"2026-10-17T12:26:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T16:26:27","slug":"stick-to-baseball-10-17-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/17\/stick-to-baseball-10-17-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 10\/17\/26."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first of three posts from my trip to the Arizona Fall League is now up, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7697131\/2026\/10\/17\/arizona-fall-league-outfield-position-rules\/\">examining and excoriating the ridiculous outfield-positioning experiment<\/a> happening in games at Salt River Fields. My notes on players I saw will run Sunday and Monday in two posts, split up by league. I\u2019ll also work up a post on the five new restaurants I tried on this trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have a newsletter written but have been holding it until the AFL posts were up, so I\u2019ll probably send it on Monday. In the meantime, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/keithlaw.kit.com\/\">sign up for the newsletter<\/a> (it\u2019s free) or follow me on <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/keithlaw.bsky.social\">Bluesky<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/mrkeithlaw\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@keith_law\">TikTok<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@mrkeithlaw\">Threads<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And now, the links\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A video first, from <em>The New York Times<\/em>: In the first episode of a new show called \u201cSound Off,\u201d former <em>Chicago Tribune<\/em> editor Marc Jacob explains how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/insider\/100000011213260\/a-reader-on-what-he-thinks-we-get-wrong-about-trump.html\">he thinks the <em>Times<\/em> is failing readers by whitewashing the lies and corruption of the Trump Administration<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On to the longreads first \u2026 also from the <em>Times<\/em>, a look at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/10\/11\/us\/politics\/elections-political-violence-harassment.html?unlocked_article_code=1.H1E.2Uag.J1wH8qPXX8oW&amp;smid=bs-share\">the increase in threats and incidents of political violence aimed at elected officials in the United States<\/a>. Yes, right-wing elements are pushing some of this, but as someone who\u2019s received such threats, I think it\u2019s also a result of the increasing isolation and depersonalization that come from people who are too online.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ProPublica\u2019s investigations have found <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/american-citizens-detained-dhs-civil-rights\/\">506 U.S. citizens detained by ICE and DHS under Trump<\/a>, contrary to the Administration\u2019s lies that say this isn\u2019t happening.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The deeply unethical vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau championed by RFK Jr. \u2013 where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2026\/oct\/09\/vaccine-trial-guinea-bissau-rfk-jr\">some children will be denied the hepatitis B vaccine for six weeks<\/a> \u2013 will go ahead after all, with U.S. taxpayer funding. A hepatitis B infection in an infant can cause lifelong health problems. The study is pushed by anti-vaxxers hoping to find support for their claims that vaccines are harmful. <em>The New York Times<\/em> also has a story up on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/10\/16\/us\/politics\/rfk-jr-vaccines.html?smid=tw-share\">how much RFK Jr. is advancing anti-vaxxers\u2019 goals<\/a> (polies that are already killing Americans).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Also from ProPublica, Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for Senate in Texas, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/ken-paxton-travel-security-costs\">has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on junkets around the world<\/a>, to at least 17 countries, with no business justification for the expense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Science<\/em> details the results of a study looking at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/women-academics-feeling-devalued-can-be-fatal-career-blow?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.raindrop.io%2F\">why attrition rates are higher for women faculty than men<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 19-year-old white man, radicalized by right-wing content online, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/10\/15\/raja-krishnamoorthi-aurora-temple\/?lctg=2276c265798522db34332abcd662f646&amp;active=yesD&amp;utm_campaign=trib-chicago_tribune-breaking_news-nl&amp;utm_content=alert&amp;utm_source=sailthru&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_cluster=TRIB&amp;utm_profileID=6a5eab34998e864970460a3b\">planned to shoot up a Hindu temple in the Chicago area<\/a>, and only a jammed gun and a co-worker who thought to call the police stopped a massacre.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Zeteo reports on how Mike Huckabee, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, is <a href=\"https:\/\/zeteo.com\/p\/the-israel-experience-with-mike-huckabee\">selling trips to Israel with the promise of access to top Israeli officials<\/a>, and is still raising money for the PAC he pledged to dissolve when he got the job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A couple of tech writers announced that <a href=\"https:\/\/karlbode.com\/casey-newton-and-john-gruber-slink-back-to-elon-musks-right-wing-propaganda-machine\/\">they\u2019re going back to X in the last week<\/a>, despite, you know, all the Nazis, the hate speech, the false information, and the way the owner is trying to undermine our democracy. Another tech writer lists <a href=\"https:\/\/lexontech.org\/x-is-bad-though\">eleven reasons why Elon sucks<\/a>, using that as his argument to avoid X.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Mother Jones<\/em> explains how that Ukraine drone strike on a data center didn\u2019t wipe out a bunch of Russian bots, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/politics\/2026\/10\/ukraine-drone-strike-yandex-russian-bot-farm-right-wing-maga-afd-reform-uk-conspiracy-theory-viral-rumor\/\">but people believed it anyway<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Israel &#8220;settlers&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/oct\/16\/israeli-settlers-attack-olive-farmers-west-bank-washington-post-journalist-heidi-levine\">attacked Palestinian olive farmers and a <em>Washington Post <\/em>journalist in the West Bank<\/a>, part of their annual effort to wreck the olive harvest. These people are not &#8220;settling&#8221; anything.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A study from Norway found that wealth taxes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nber.org\/papers\/w35854\">did not lead to the affected taxpayers fleeing the country<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <em>Times<\/em> looks at the upheaval in mathematics after the release of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/10\/08\/science\/mathematicians-respond-openai-release.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.WQLh.PxXipj36yYaR&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share\">hundreds of new proofs and findings generated by OpenAI<\/a>, including a proof of the quasi-Riemann hypothesis, which may get mathematicians (or AI) closer to solving maybe the most famous currently unsolved problem in math.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Yet another sexual assault at a frat party, this one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/10\/14\/us\/university-chicago-fraternity-sexual-assault.html?searchResultPosition=1\">at the University of Chicago<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Singer\/guitarist Geordie Greep, formerly lead singer of black midi, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pastemagazine.com\/music\/geordie-greep\/geordie-greep-accuser-and-ex-bandmate-come-forward-about-assault-allegations\">was accused of sexual assault<\/a> by a woman after a show earlier this month in Vancouver. The accusation was followed by a flyer, not written by the accuser, that claimed he\u2019d raped her, a claim she flatly denies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Two women have filed a lawsuit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/politics-government\/state-politics\/article317634839.html?giftCode=3e722c8c48bee1bfa4e5cbd9dc52b50a9d1391856f56d681cd30fa756446f2cd\">accusing disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) of sex trafficking<\/a>, after which he attempted to dox them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 20-year-old woman in Milwaukee called the police to ask for protection from her 39-year-old boyfriend; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/crime\/2026\/10\/15\/milwaukee-man-charged-girlfriend-killing-domestic-abuse\/92253144007\/\">he killed her hours later<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bestselling author Sally Rooney (<em>Normal People<\/em>) has supported the group Palestine Action, which the UK has branded as a terrorist organization, meaning under UK law her publisher could not pay her royalties for her books sold in the country. As a result, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/entertainment\/2026\/1014\/1595383-sally-rooneys-books-to-be-withdrawn-from-sale-in-the-uk\/\">Faber will no longer supply her books to stores in Britain<\/a>, a move she supports. We aren\u2019t the only western country rolling back civil rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) holds millions of dollars\u2019 worth of shares in data center companies, so of course <a href=\"https:\/\/readsludge.com\/2026\/10\/14\/senates-top-data-center-investor-backs-environmental-rollbacks-to-power-the-industry\/\">he\u2019s pushing legislation that will make it harder for states to regulate their activities<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cranio Creations has a Gamefound page up for <a href=\"https:\/\/gamefound.com\/en\/projects\/cranio-creations\/lorenzo-il-magnifico-a-new-renaissance?gfmct=jSBqp0DIWS2XvqfuFMTkTitWJRY8zM2xQnwlfG6zfL2_xtsxPc6_J1O0eBV2eF-08DKFTDwkB-t84UtDBcwT73NwafNh4A4TlT9zGW5AGD-TiAmeIMQ7X8TMqfQPgm7sMgPuuFRQ-yW0s_LlNH1fyZsUhsDa5Xldewfd4CafRNjMIBBVNmAfg2N-b_XzxmJIjoPemueBOuvBqd2sGZX5yHX7EL1GPrEcdtn_husaSDKlyNxyWuoI8rdw0TYd5O8YzMUz78KdynZ_gcajNZhwwA4oT_TtyfJ7cqFjfbQ0MbtZy0tTTUSz4Ot7WrLqkq25Ia7KMta2PusXWt446sAFvgj3hcUCejSCt5Rvh_CJKCApEYD0iHJ6QXqmOYxbAE6yBDLD6jud_F5MJmsVojfhKCpnGCwBpT_D4GD5ZprnJ0X7YmwBLeHbBknriuPbSdan4ImfkJ3mcdr2HkMd51lsxA&amp;utm_campaign=lorenzo-il-magnifico-a-new-renaissance&amp;utm_content=action&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=crowdfunding_started\">a new edition of Lorenzo il Magnifico<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Eagle-Gryphon has a Kickstarter page up for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/eaglegryphon\/empires-age-of-discovery\">a new edition of Empire: Age of Discovery<\/a> (previously published as Age of Empires III).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first of three posts from my trip to the Arizona Fall League is now up, examining and excoriating the ridiculous outfield-positioning experiment happening in games at Salt River Fields. My notes on players I saw will run Sunday and Monday in two posts, split up by league. I\u2019ll also work up a post on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1429,1083,1060,984,1456,1109,179,190,961,1506,971,1364,1106,907,870,477,940,807],"class_list":["post-11488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-board-game-news","tag-free-speech","tag-guns","tag-immigration","tag-israel","tag-journalism","tag-links","tag-longreads","tag-mathematics","tag-metoo","tag-palestine","tag-rhode-island","tag-social-media","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-texas","tag-the-swamp","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11489,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11488\/revisions\/11489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}